Passage 4. Research about how men and women take humor. A study was conducted on 20 men and women, making them watch 20 funny cartoons and 10 not funny cartoons. The analysis showed that women take humor more lightly and laugh more.

Writing test

Writing task 1 (a letter)

Write a letter to your friend that was supposed to visit you soon, but it is not possible now. In your letter

Nowadays it is very popular to be technology/internet literate. Some people say that these skills will replace the use of books as main source of information and entertainment. Do you agree or disagree?

Speaking test

Interview

– What is your full name? – Can I see your ID? – Where are you from? – Where do you live? – Is it an apartment or a house? – What kind of accommodation do you prefer? – Would you like to stay in a big house/small house? Why? – In your country do people use boats? – What do they use boats for? – Would you like to own a boat? – What would you do with a boat? – Would you shop online or in stores for a boat? – Have you ever been dissatisfied with your online purchases?

Cue Card

Talk about an interesting website you have come across recently. Please say

– Why have you visited it? – How was it helpful to you? – Did you find the information that you were looking for?

Discussion

– Do you think usage of the internet is different for different age groups? – Do you think the government should consider educating elderly people to become computer-literate? – Can we live without the internet?

Many offenders commit more crimes after serving the first punishment. Why is this happening, and what measures can be taken to tackle this problem?

It is true that some criminals commit crimes again after they have been punished. While there are several reasons for this alarming trend, some effective measures can be taken by governments to tackle this problem.

There are two main reasons for re-offenders. Firstly, the prison system can make the situation worse. Criminals put together in prison and they make friends with other offenders. While they are locked up in prison, they do not have much to do there, and they would exchange information about what they have done before they came to the prison or they may plan crimes with other inmates. Secondly, offenders often do not have any other means of earning money. They are poor, uneducated and lacking skills needed to maintain a job. Also, a criminal record makes finding a job difficult as people usually avoid hiring .

To solve this problem, governments should focus on rehabilitation of criminals rather than punishment. Above all, prisons need vocational training which inmates to prepare for life outside the prison. They can learn practical skills such as computer programming, car maintenance and graphic design. In this way, they can be hired for a position that requires this certain knowledge and skills. Community service is another way to reform offenders. Rather than being locked up in prison with other inmates, offenders can help society and become useful to their local community, and these activities would eliminate the negative influence that prisons can have.

In conclusion, it is true the one of the problems our community; it can be solved by focusing rather than punishment itself.

This is a good essay. The requirements of the task statement are covered, the reasoning is logical and presented in a coherent, easy to follow way, the range of vocabulary is wide enough and the writer shows fluency and flexibility. Some minor errors in this essay include word choice and preposition errors (mouse over the words underlined in blue shows suggested corrections). Overall this looks like an IELTS Band 8 essay.